Series
Publication
Faber & Faber (2001), Edition: Main
Original publication date
2014
Collections
Genres
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2015)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Mystery/Thriller — 2014)
Macavity Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2015)
Description
"The lone policeman in a small township on the sparse northern border [of Pennsylvania], Henry Farrell expected to spend his mornings hunting and fishing, his evenings playing old-time music. Instead, he has watched the steady encroachment of gas drilling bring new wealth and erode neighborly trust. The drug trade is pushing heroin into the territory. There are outlaws cooking meth in the woods, guys Henry grew up with. When a stranger turns up dead, Henrys search for the killer will open old wounds, dredge up ancient crimes, and exact a deadly price"--Dust jacket flap.
User reviews
LibraryThing member revliz
Astonishing. I think the term is "pitch perfect". This may be northeastern Pennsylvania, but he's got the smells and sights and sounds of rural poverty/drug addiction exactly the way I found them in Idaho.
LibraryThing member KateBaxter
Synopsis:
In Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania, secrets and feuds go back generations. The lone policeman in a small township on the sparse northern border, Henry Farrell expected to spend his mornings hunting and fishing, his evenings playing old-time music. Instead, he has watched the steady encroachment
In Wild Thyme, Pennsylvania, secrets and feuds go back generations. The lone policeman in a small township on the sparse northern border, Henry Farrell expected to spend his mornings hunting and fishing, his evenings playing old-time music. Instead, he has watched the steady encroachment
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of gas drilling bring new wealth and erode neighborly trust. The drug trade is pushing heroin into the territory. There are outlaws cooking meth in the woods, guys Henry grew up with. When a stranger turns up dead, Henry s search for the killer will open old wounds, dredge up ancient crimes, and exact a deadly price. With vivid characters and flawless pacing, Tom Bouman immerses readers in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, a region in the grip of change. In these derelict woods full of whitetail deer and history, the hunt is on. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carolee888
Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman is set in rural Pennsylvania and was a big step out of the ordinary for me. I am not used to reading about characters who have large selection of rifles, muskets and other guns. Also I am not comfortable when the conversation turns to hunting. I found this out
At the beginning even through the middle, I had some trouble getting keeping the characters straight. I was fine remembering the main character, Officer Henry Farrell, the murder victims and other main characters but I was lost with the secondary characters, who they were and their family connections. The main character is developed by flashbacks to when he met his future wife and special memories of her. I liked her character the most. If I was giving advice to the author, I would try to trim the character list and give more i development to the main characters.
I did like the historical background of the area and description of the cultural clash between the backwoods people and description of the wealthier people living in high end houses. I also loved the portrait of Aub, a man living on his ancestral home place who was clearly deep into dementia. Also it was very interesting to see how the people around him reacted to him. Also loved the references to old time music in the area, especially the parts about fiddle music.
I would recommend this book to people would want to read a mystery that is fully of regional history and culture. That some of the history is edgy and dark is just the way it is. I have found it to be true in rural Indiana also. If the author could tighten up on the number of characters, I think that he would reach more readers. It is a great start!
I received this book as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review.
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when I once visited my cousin and saw a whole wall of rabbit skins displayed where the stairs were. By whole wall, I mean about fifty of them. I have to get this confession off my plate before this review. Also my stomach turned some during the description of how to cook a squirrel.At the beginning even through the middle, I had some trouble getting keeping the characters straight. I was fine remembering the main character, Officer Henry Farrell, the murder victims and other main characters but I was lost with the secondary characters, who they were and their family connections. The main character is developed by flashbacks to when he met his future wife and special memories of her. I liked her character the most. If I was giving advice to the author, I would try to trim the character list and give more i development to the main characters.
I did like the historical background of the area and description of the cultural clash between the backwoods people and description of the wealthier people living in high end houses. I also loved the portrait of Aub, a man living on his ancestral home place who was clearly deep into dementia. Also it was very interesting to see how the people around him reacted to him. Also loved the references to old time music in the area, especially the parts about fiddle music.
I would recommend this book to people would want to read a mystery that is fully of regional history and culture. That some of the history is edgy and dark is just the way it is. I have found it to be true in rural Indiana also. If the author could tighten up on the number of characters, I think that he would reach more readers. It is a great start!
I received this book as a win from FirstReads but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review.
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LibraryThing member jfe16
The story of “Dry Bones in the Valley” takes place in a small rural town and is told by Officer Henry Farrell. There’s a body, an investigation that manages to turn up more bodies without too much effort, and a lot of tramping through the back woods. As mysteries go, this one manages to keep
Some of the best writing in “Dry Bones in the Valley” comes in the description of Wild Thyme Township; in fact, the setting is so vividly described it takes on a persona of its own. As for the people meandering through the story, some of the characters are fairly well-defined while others are in need of some serious fleshing-out. Still, by the end of the tale, the mystery has been solved, the murderer has been revealed, and the “why” explanations have come to light.
Nevertheless, as the narrative tromps along the deer trails and wanders through back roads and fields, the reader, rather than being drawn into the tale, is simply along for the ride. Yes, it’s an inventive plot, one that definitely keeps the pages turning. It just never really matters.
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the reader guessing since the killer remains unidentified through most of the story. In due time, most of the loose ends are tied up and it’s only fair to assume there will be more Henry Farrell tales to be told.Some of the best writing in “Dry Bones in the Valley” comes in the description of Wild Thyme Township; in fact, the setting is so vividly described it takes on a persona of its own. As for the people meandering through the story, some of the characters are fairly well-defined while others are in need of some serious fleshing-out. Still, by the end of the tale, the mystery has been solved, the murderer has been revealed, and the “why” explanations have come to light.
Nevertheless, as the narrative tromps along the deer trails and wanders through back roads and fields, the reader, rather than being drawn into the tale, is simply along for the ride. Yes, it’s an inventive plot, one that definitely keeps the pages turning. It just never really matters.
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LibraryThing member zmagic69
Based on the number of 5 star reviews I wonder if I read a different book, than everyone else? This book came highly recommended and even had an author blurb from Donald Ray Pollack whose books are fantastic. This for me was not a fantastic book. It was way too slow, and the story was not that
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interesting. I am getting tired of the character who is a lost soul who served in the military, and for one reason or another is a premature widower. I am also tired of authors with an axe to grind ( in this case against "fracking") trying to weave their beliefs into the story. In the case of Dry Bones in the Valley, the fracking issue ultimately has nothing to do with the story. Add to this a main character with little to no authority, as a like weekend police officer, who is and poorly, if at all developed, supporting characters, and you have a book that was an extremely slow read, and a 3 on a scale of 1-10 adventurous conclusion. This story just didn't offer anything for this reader to care about. Show Less
LibraryThing member muddyboy
This is an Edgar Award finalist for best first mystery. The body of an unknown man is found on a reclusive man's (Aub) rural property. Shortly after this body is discovered a local law enforcement officer is killed. So, there are dual mysteries and we don't know whether or not they are
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interconnected. The land owner is taken to jail as the initial suspect. A small town policeman, Henry Farrell, is the point man in unraveling the murders. The novel has a very good surprise ending and I really enjoyed the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member jwrudn
I know this was an Edgar Award winner for first novel, but I found it a bit disappointing. Nice depiction of the methland of rural NE Pennsylvania. Too much tramping about in the woods for me. I had trouble keeping the characters straight. The main plot had little to do with the many sub plots that
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I also had a hard time keeping straight. All that said, I would not write off Tom Bouman and would probably try another. Show Less
LibraryThing member maneekuhi
I read a rave review in July 2017 of Tom Bouman's newly released "Fateful Mornings"(FM), his second Henry Farrell novel. I did a little research and found that the first one, "Dry Bones in the Valley"(DB),released about a year+ earlier, had received a number of prestigious awards. I decided to read
Henry is a cop in his 30s in a small Northeast Pennsylvania township that has seen better days, or not. This is Appalachia Mountain territory and most of the book's characters are scraping by. Some are on drugs and everybody has guns, lots of guns. When Henry calls on a few people "of interest" in the murder he is investigating, he invites himself in and details each weapon he finds - pistols, hunting sense of rifles, shotguns. Everybody hunts and knows more about hunting and animal behavior than Smokey the Bear. Because there's not a lot of money in the area, there's not a very big budget for local law enforcement, so things are not exactly up to date, e.g., police communications systems. Deep into the book, Henry sidetracks a minute from his crime solving and starts a fresh page with "Here's how you make squirrel pie"; it did not make my mouth water.
The story starts when an old coot, demented and alcoholic, reveals to Henry that he has found a body on his property, wedged in deep snow and rocks, an arm and eye missing, the eye recently consumed by one of the turkey vultures hovering nearby (this is the first of a number of grizzly, earthy scenes that lend an uncomfortable sense of well done you-are-there to the reader). Later that night Henry's only deputy is found shot dead near a burning heap in a junk yard. Henry calls for assistance from other jurisdictions and the investigation begins.
There are some rather interesting diversions as the story unfolds. There are huge pockets of natural gas throughout the area (Henry explains why) and companies are pressuring land owners to sell drilling and fracking rights, and suddenly we are learning all about fracking. Then there's the shootout. Then Henry reflects of his late wife, Polly - meeting her, falling in love, marriage, her cancer, her passing. There's also a bust in a drug camp, complete with rusted out old RVs, crazies, lab equipment, filth. Needless to say this is not your typical police procedural.
This is not an upbeat book, not a lot of laughs, jokes, smiles, but there is a pearl every so often. Henry tells the story of an elk which could no longer run, fight, mate. Henry shot it on the first day of hunting season to put it out of its misery. Henry observes: "With most human beings it's not so simple. We have to limp along no matter the wound."
I recommend this book, but oddly I am not sure if I will read FM. I don't know that it can tell me too much I don't already know about Henry and Wild Thyme Township and I'm not sure I want to go back.
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DB though I wasn't overwhelmed by the plot summaries I found.Henry is a cop in his 30s in a small Northeast Pennsylvania township that has seen better days, or not. This is Appalachia Mountain territory and most of the book's characters are scraping by. Some are on drugs and everybody has guns, lots of guns. When Henry calls on a few people "of interest" in the murder he is investigating, he invites himself in and details each weapon he finds - pistols, hunting sense of rifles, shotguns. Everybody hunts and knows more about hunting and animal behavior than Smokey the Bear. Because there's not a lot of money in the area, there's not a very big budget for local law enforcement, so things are not exactly up to date, e.g., police communications systems. Deep into the book, Henry sidetracks a minute from his crime solving and starts a fresh page with "Here's how you make squirrel pie"; it did not make my mouth water.
The story starts when an old coot, demented and alcoholic, reveals to Henry that he has found a body on his property, wedged in deep snow and rocks, an arm and eye missing, the eye recently consumed by one of the turkey vultures hovering nearby (this is the first of a number of grizzly, earthy scenes that lend an uncomfortable sense of well done you-are-there to the reader). Later that night Henry's only deputy is found shot dead near a burning heap in a junk yard. Henry calls for assistance from other jurisdictions and the investigation begins.
There are some rather interesting diversions as the story unfolds. There are huge pockets of natural gas throughout the area (Henry explains why) and companies are pressuring land owners to sell drilling and fracking rights, and suddenly we are learning all about fracking. Then there's the shootout. Then Henry reflects of his late wife, Polly - meeting her, falling in love, marriage, her cancer, her passing. There's also a bust in a drug camp, complete with rusted out old RVs, crazies, lab equipment, filth. Needless to say this is not your typical police procedural.
This is not an upbeat book, not a lot of laughs, jokes, smiles, but there is a pearl every so often. Henry tells the story of an elk which could no longer run, fight, mate. Henry shot it on the first day of hunting season to put it out of its misery. Henry observes: "With most human beings it's not so simple. We have to limp along no matter the wound."
I recommend this book, but oddly I am not sure if I will read FM. I don't know that it can tell me too much I don't already know about Henry and Wild Thyme Township and I'm not sure I want to go back.
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LibraryThing member kmajort
Probably a 3.5
Folks who like CJ Box may enjoy this (better written than Box), or Nevada Barr....
I had an issue with one thing on the 4th page from the end.. won't spoil it, but I actually said Oh BULLSHIT! out loud, so glad I was at home.
I didn't label this as Police Procedural, as they really
Folks who like CJ Box may enjoy this (better written than Box), or Nevada Barr....
I had an issue with one thing on the 4th page from the end.. won't spoil it, but I actually said Oh BULLSHIT! out loud, so glad I was at home.
I didn't label this as Police Procedural, as they really
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didn't follow such. I liked the main character, so may try more? Show Less
LibraryThing member AMKitty
I struggled mightily to get into the rhythm of this story. I was unsuccessful. In fact, I DNF’d at 38% because the author of a police thriller referred, not once but twice, to handguns in a casual owner’s safe as “automatics.”
I don’t know if he was attempting a political statement,
I don’t know if he was attempting a political statement,
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didn’t do his research, or was just sloppy. No matter. It was the killing blow for my attempt to cut slack for a series-first and new author. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0571320643 / 9780571320646
Physical description
5.08 inches